Rocking the porch

Jeffrey Fisher now knows how to really enjoy summer. Such a shame he lives on the top floor of a converted warehouse

An ideal porch: Take one swing, two rockers and a jute rug and mix in sweet evening breezes (sans mosquitoes).

Photograph by: John Mcmanus
, Group3designs

I have never lived in a house with a porch, so I had no idea what I was missing until this past Canada Day weekend, when I stayed with friends in Port Hope. Everything changed for me.

To give a bit of the backstor y, nine years ago my friends bought a 100-year-old farmhouse 45 minutes east of Toronto. The house had been in the same family since it was built and was not occupied at the time of their purchase. They lovingly restored the interior, adding modern amenities while keeping as many original features as possible. As time allowed, flower and vegetable gardens were put in, trees were planted and a shed was refurbished into a chicken coop to provide daily farm-fresh eggs. Bucolic, really.

I visited about five years ago, and was suitably impressed, though at the time they did not have a porch. Again, not knowing the pleasures of one, I thought nothing of it.

Fast forward to my longoverdue return visit and not only do they now have a swimming pool and a guardian peacock named Atticus, but they've built a porch that wraps around three sides of the back of the house.

Two doors (one facing west and the other north) allow access to the porch from the kitchen. The west-facing door has steps leading down to the driveway and the north-facing door has stairs off the porch onto the back lawn (which, I'm told, takes 10 hours to mow).

This country veranda has everything needed to transition from winter life indoors to a summer spent outside. There's a dining area (with an antique sideboard to serve from) that faces east, taking in a sweeping view of Lake Ontario to the south.

There are two separate seating areas, one with a rattan sofa long enough to stretch out on, the other with a wicker loveseat and chairs. The ceiling is painted sky blue so even grey days appear cheery, and hanging baskets make the entire porch experience that much more authentic. Add an occasional table with lamp, a magazine rack and the perquisite barbecue, and you won't even remember the Farrow & Ball wallpaper in the elegant sitting room.

The porch pictured above was designed by Rick Clanton of Group 3 (group3designs.net) and looks little like the one I spent my past weekend on. It does, however, instill in me the same sense of home. The hanging Arts and Crafts porch swing, the two rockers and the jute rug all help create comfort and relaxation. This well-built porch is screened in, and, truth told, at about 11 p.m. Sunday evening (after returning from Coburg's spectacular fireworks display), I was wishing my friends had a screened area where we could escape the buzz of mosquitoes while still being able to enjoy the night air.

Having had a porch for three glorious days, only to return to life in my city loft, I now know what it is to miss one. I napped on it, belly-laughed on it and enjoyed the view from it. My friends' porch was a place to gather for morning coffee, enjoy alfresco lunches and sip late afternoon Pimm's.

After dinner on the porch I snuggled Fred, the resident terrier, while watching fireflies do their awkward night dance. It was where we greeted our hosts when we arrived and where we said our goodbyes before heading down the road for home.

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